ByCompiled From Wire Service Dispatches With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The WorldEdited By Anne ShuttOctober 4, 1982

Houston
— The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested two men in connection with an extortion attempt that closed down a giant Gulf Oil petrochemical plant near Houston, an FBI spokesman said.

Following a bomb-threat letter received a week ago, apparently demanding $15 million and stating that 10 bombs had been planted, five sophisticated bombs were found packed in metal boxes, Monitor correspondent Jonathan Harsch reports. The arrests were part of a multi-state investigation. The plant was closed Thursday morning, an action that could cost Gulf up to $100,000 a day.